Saturday, June 6, 2015

Female sex offenders: Why older women have sex with young boys

A 28-year-old man who had sex with a 14-year-old girl has just been jailed. It happened four times while he was employed as a school bus monitor.

When you hear that statement, chances are you think of a vile sex offender – a man who abused his position of power, groomed his victim and 100 per cent deserves his jail sentence.

But what about when I tell you that I lied. It wasn’t a man who groomed a girl. It was a woman called Caroline Salisbury, a soldier’s wife, who had sex with a 14-year-old boy. She was the older woman, and he was underage.

It’s likely that the label ‘sex offender’ doesn’t jump to mind for Salisbury – but that’s exactly what she is.

As a society, we tend to view cases of male and female sex offenders differently. We’re so used to hearing about male offenders that our reactions are honed – disgust, outrage and pity for the victim.

But when it’s a female offender, it’s different. Normally it’s portrayed as the woman falling in love with the boy so we see it as a strange but romantic affair where age is just an obstacle. We don’t always see her as a sex offender or the boy as a victim. (more...)